To Break the Ice
by candyfizzle
Summary: When his father dies, Inuyasha is expected to carry on the crooked buisness of diamond smuggling. When he intercepts the wrong boat however, Inuyasha finds himself burdened with Kagome, whom he accidently 'kidnaps', and with the downfalls of his new way


Author's Note: Yay, a new fanfic! ; I'm so sorry about Merman, for those who read it. I thought I put a 'hiatus' thingy up, but it either didn't go through or I dreamt up that part... oo

Forgive me, I've been so busy, and concentrating more on school and my art; but hopefully the school part and my procrastinationess will cease and I'll be back cranking out chapters! Again, I apologize; you may whip me with these chains if you wish. hands readers chains, then runs away when they realize the chains are actually fluffy cotton balls

To Break the Ice: Chapter 1

ice (īs) _n._ 1 The solid state of water. 2 To cover with ice. 3 To break through reserve or formality. 4 _Informal_ In a difficult or dangerous situation. 5 _Slang_ To clinch victory in a contest or game. 6 _Slang_ A diamond or diamonds.

_September 9th: _

_Dear Diary, _

_It's been two days since we took off, and the kindly captain of this ship says we'll arrive by tomorrow. If I had gone by plane or train I would have arrived in less than a day, but father wants me to enjoy the 'sea-farer's life', and it's best to do as father wishes. _

_So far, the weather around me has been..._

At this point Kagome lifted her eyes off the paper she was writing upon to steal a glance outside the round window.

The sky, with the sea as the exact mirror image, was a dirty mess of clouds. It was definitely not the "pleasant, pretty, picture-perfect panorama", as said word-for-word by the captain, which she was guaranteed. The looming clouds seemed to hide a secret agenda of when unexpected waterspouts and tidal waves would make their appearances; at least, that's what Kagome imagined nature had in store for her during her strongest bouts of seasickness and land yearning.

_So far... _

_So far, the weather around me has been non-lethal, and the sky is the color of warm gravel. I expect it'll clear up soon. _

_The crew of the _Shikon Wave _are quite... _Kagome paused for a moment and bit the eraser at the end of her pencil. What's a word that wasn't too degrading, but not too detailed? She 'ah-ha'ed and started writing again._ ...are quite interesting. They usually acknowledge me with a nod when I walk by, and sometimes they even say 'hi' if I'm standing really close to them... _

_My room is small, but that only proves the saying: 'good things come in small packa-_

"Argh, screw this," Kagome growled, letting out a huff of irritation. She tore the paper out from her journal and crumpled it up in her hands, condemning it to the wastebasket. Picking up her pencil once again, she proceeded to scribble furiously on the next blank page, reading the words out loud through gritted teeth.

"The weather is horrible," she said, "the motion of the waves make me sick, the people are rude, the captain walks around in his boxers on deck sometimes, the whole place stinks of wiggly sea creatures and I want to go HOME!" Adding a few extra exclamation marks after 'home', the girl plunked her pencil and forehead down onto the table. Then, in an unlikely fashion for her, she started sniffling miserably. "I want to go home..."

No matter how she tried to make the best of her trip by sugarcoating the events, (also her father might be interested in reading about her 'adventure') Kagome still hated the journey because of why she taking it. Her mother had died, leaving grief-filled Kagome with only the option of staying with her dad -- Souta was at an all-boys boarding school, and poor Grandpa at the nursing home. Kagome would have rather taken the choice of going to the boarding school. Heck, even to the nursing home with Grandpa was better then go to Mr. Higurashi's house. Her father was quite forgetful: the first time Kagome wrote him a letter, he replied by writing, 'Ah, my dear sister Kagome-san, how I've missed you!'

Kagome let out an 'oof!' as a rather large wave knocked the miserable girl out her chair, and onto the floor. Kagome sighed and steadied herself by hoisting herself up by pulling on tall halogen lamp, the only source of light in the room.

Suddenly, another wave knocked her sprawling across the room, also knocking over the lamp and cracking the light bulb into pieces. The cramped room was thrown into darkness. "Man," Kagome moaned, picking herself up again. "This day can NOT get any worse."

"Hmm, looks like the weather has room to worsen," The dark-haired man beside Inuyasha commented, frowning as a rogue gust of wind stole his cap off of his head. "I wouldn't count on any ship arriving too soon."

Inuyasha glared at him. He truly didn't know why Miroku had to come along. All he really did was chatter about any talk that boasted negativity or perverted musings, and urged Inuyasha to do the same. The teen didn't enjoy flapping his lips by the ocean shore too much because the smell of salt that already invaded his nose would also coat his tongue and throat.

"Really, if you're trying to convince me to quit and go home just because of a little breeze, you've got another thing coming," Inuyasha drawled, snatching the man's cap before it flew out into the sea. He spat out some seawater that had splashed into his mouth and handed Miroku back his hat. "Besides, I know you just want to go back 'cuz some special on some porn channel is on, right?"

Miroku shook his head. "Ah, you have much to learn Inuyasha; I merely want to go back so I can meet up with Sango," He paused to give Inuyasha a pointed look. "You know, my girlfriend." He paused again, then asked in a slightly hopeful voice, "...Is there really a special on?"

"If you close your eyes and wish hard enough," The younger teen said, then turned away to face the ocean. He was starting to worry a bit; the waves were considerably larger then they were half an hour ago, and as Miroku had said earlier, the ocean always had room to spare.

Inuyasha just hoped the boat with arrive on time, with all the goods safe and sound. After all, what good was smuggling diamonds if they were all lost at sea? Nature and the creatures of the sea were not like men: they would not have any need of the gems because they did not feel the greed that compelled humans to steal, smuggle, and sell. However, it was this greed and compelling force that got the Akamori's ahead in the world.

It was only a month ago when Inuyasha found out that most of the Akamori fortune was acquired from a not so savvy trade. Up to that point a month previous, his whole life Inuyasha thought that the Akamori business was, just as millions of other customers and business leaders thought, exactly the cover that his father put out: an honest plastic production company. After all, who was to say that a company based on plastic would not find success? Almost everything could be found in plastic: toys, containers, eating utensils, even surgery. So what was so unbelievable about Akamori's Plastikz getting millions a year?

Even though Inuyasha readily believed in his father, he still had times of doubt. Like when Inuyasha found a careless trail of tiny diamonds leading to a suspicious-looking looking truck loaded with boxes. Or when he received a diamond-encrusted pen for his twelfth birthday.

Yet Inuyasha knew that that Mr. Akamori was a good man, and still is a good man; well, a dead man, but still good nevertheless. And as he thought of all this, Inuyasha saw a small ship in the distance. Because his sight was superior to the average human, he had to wait a moment before Miroku also noticed it and proceeded to prod Inuyasha into awareness.

"Inuyasha, look, here it comes!" Miroku said.

"Yes, I know,"

"You know the drill?" his companion asked, cracking his knuckles as he always did when he was anticipating something.

"Yes, I know the drill."

Brushing back his hair, now gray with a salty tinge, Miroku turned slightly to Inuyasha and grinned. "You know, this event will probably mark the beginning of your new crooked, fraudulent way of life."

Inuyasha frowned lightly and stared straight out into the sea, gazing at the white spot of ship that was growing larger. "Yes... I know."

Ending Note: Well, that's it. 'Tis short because this chapter is more of a teaser. u Please keep in mind that I know almost nothing of smuggling or boats... "XD So help me by reviewing and telling me what you think! Constructive criticismgood. Flamesbad! Thank you for reading, see you in the next chapter! wave wave

As taken from Webster's Pocket Dictionary, published by Trident Press International, 1997, by J. Radcliffe 


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